Mass Chaos: Pope Busing Plan Is Off

August 14, 1987|By BUDDY NEVINS, Miami Bureau Chief

Archdiocese of Miami officials, conceding that their plans for 2,000 buses to carry worshipers to Pope John Paul II`s Mass next month have collapsed, on Thursday suggested that 280,000 people take cars to the outdoor event.

Police said that putting that many people on the road converging on Tamiami Park, the site of the Sept. 11 Mass, could cause an unprecedented traffic jam and parking problems.

``I`m not aware of anything involving this number or scope (of cars) in the history of the state,`` said Capt. Harvey Shoaff, of the Florida Highway Patrol.

Complicating the traffic situation is the closing of more than a dozen key roads in Dade County, including parts of Florida`s Turnpike and Interstate 95, for security reasons during the pontiff`s daylong visit.

Church officials had originally wanted to keep cars off the roads by shuttling 300,000 people to the Mass on buses. But they admitted on Thursday that they have been able to rent only enough buses for 25,000 people.

Those without bus transportation now will have to drive or walk.

``At the present time, we have 150 buses. No, it is not enough. If I had my way, it would be 2,000 (buses),`` said the Rev. Noel Bennett, in charge of transportation for the Mass.

The church is asking that 280,000 people riding in 75,000 vehicles drive to the Mass. That number is almost four times the number of fans who can fit in the new Joe Robbie Stadium.

Surveys taken for the archdiocese by Dade County traffic planners have indicated that up to 70,000 cars can park along streets and on lawns in a 2- mile radius around the Mass site at Southwest 24th Street and Florida`s Turnpike.

``This is the saturation point,`` Bennett said.

If more cars show up, Bennett said, ``that would be a big problem.``

But to find parking spaces that don`t translate into miles of walking will mean worshipers will have to arrive hours before the 10 a.m. Mass. Police plan to cordon off a five-block radius around the park at midnight before the service.

``We`re telling people they should plan to spend at least 12 hours in the whole process,`` said the Rev. Jose Nickse, also helping to plan the Mass. ``This is not a Mass where you come and go in an hour,`` Nickse said. ``This is a Woodstock-type event with a spiritual aspect.``

The transportation crisis was triggered by last week`s failure by the Dade County School Board to rent 600 school buses to the archdiocese. The board was worried about the cost of a threatened suit from the American Civil Liberties Union, which contends leasing the buses to the archdiocese would violate the separation of church and state.

Even with the 600 school buses, which could have carried 100,000 worshipers in multiple trips, the archdiocese would have fewer than half the buses needed, Bennett said.

More than 500,000 people are expected to attend the three-hour Mass.

Archdiocese officials had hoped roughly 300,000 would be brought by shuttle buses from park-and-ride sites such as Hialeah Race Track and Joe Robbie Stadium. Now they have buses for only about 25,000, although Bennett still hopes to rent enough private buses for another 25,000.

Many local parishes in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have rented their own buses and are not affected by the shortage. These will carry another 100,000 to the site.

An estimated 100,000 parishioners are arriving on buses from other parts of Florida, Bennett said.